For some reason WordPress didn’t like our post yesterday, so we’ll start with a new one today. Flows are down on the West Branch, with a 500 CFS release out of the dam – great for wading! We have cool temps in the AM, so the action is starting a bit later. Drakes are still around, and we are anticipating a nice spinner fall any evening. Dortheas were a strong hatch on the main stem yesterday as well.

Even with the wind yesterday, our guides saw some of the most prolific hatching that they had ever witnessed – a full blown green drake hatch on the upper West Branch. The fish had a hard time seeing them until late in the day when the breeze knocked off for the day. The forecast for today is amazing – cloudy & cool with little to no wind – EXACTLY what you want with these kinds of water temps and this level of bug activity. These are the kind of days where we in the shop grind our teeth wishing we could be out on the water! 6:00 can’t come soon enough!

A great day for sailing yesterday, until the evening – the wind laid down, and the fish took full advantage! A fantastic evening of Delaware fishing repaid those that braved the high winds of the afternoon – sulphurs, green drakes, brown drakes and even the occasional Iso! The winds are supposed to calm down for the afternoon, and hopefully the action will continue as a result! Give us a call for the most up-to-the-minute reports!

A great father and son shot of the Stabiles - nice fish! Photo by: Bruce Miller

The heat has broken here in Starlight – unfortunately, the wind has taken its place. We are looking at northwest winds (mostly downstream) at about 15MPH, with gusts in the 40MPH range. Not ideal dry fly conditions, but the pressure change should get the bugs up and moving, and the influx of cold water from Cannonsville can only help as well!

Ding dong, the wicked old FFMP is dead! We have a new flow regime starting today. Until futher notice, Cannonsville Reservoir will be releasing at least 600 CFS, which will bring a much-needed surge of cool water into the system. Spillage is slowly fading from the top of the reservior, so this bodes well to keep the water levels both up and cool! Call us for the most up-to-the-minute info, and see below for the Stilesville (closest USGS station to the dam) graph:

H-O-T yesterday. Nothing really more to tell – bugs in the morning and the evening, with some fish active on caddis during the heat of the day. Drakes have been hatching, and we are seeing sporadic spinner falls of both coffin flies and dortheas (sulphurs). A new flow plan takes effect today, but we have yet to see any results thus far – hopefully we will get a 500+ CFS release by the end of the day today!

A nice, calm, clear night kept the water temperatures down, and saw all rivers drop dramatically. We are back under 2,000 CFS on the West, which will yield some wading opportunities as well as great floating potential. Sulphurs (dortheas) were coming off, even with the high water levels, and so we anticipate the same type of scenario today. A bit more cloud cover is predicted, but temps will once again be hot and sticky, so dress appropriately throughout the day!

Heavy storms early this morning woke us up and also brought the river up a ton. While off-color, it appears to be clearing fast for those with boats. Wading, however is UNSAFE right now – The Beaverkill and the Willow, along with the Upper East are your best bets if on foot.

After a bit of a slow day, the fish went BALLISTIC river-wide right at dark, mowing down any dorthea (sulphur) that was in their wheelhouse. Not sure what the weather is going to do for that activity, but the lower water temps are definitely a good sign.

Woke up today with some nice cloud cover and cooler air – already a good sign! We expect a bit of rain, and MUCH cooler weather today, which should produce more daytime hatching – hopefully of those same Drakes!

Cloud cover throughout the day yesterday helped keep the water temperatures down throughout the system yesterday – definitely a relief with these temperatures in the high 80’s. Yesterday we had bugs sporadically throughout the day, with a nice big flush at night. We are expecting some rain this morning, which will further add some temperature relief, and push more bugs up throughout the day!

Man, what a night – Tornado warnings, insane winds and some of the loudest thunder claps we have ever heard – and remember we now have a Texan in the shop! Our weather may in fact be bigger – who knows? But, with all that bluster and driving rain, the rivers made it through remarkably well, with barely a bump in the flows, keeping the levels great for boats, and decent for wading. We had bug soup on the water again, with several different kinds of Stenos, the occasional Hendrickson spinner, tan caddis, and a few sulphur / light cahills in the mix.

Sorry for the delay, running late this morning! The bright sun and warm temperatures did not deter the bugs from hatching yesterday – March Browns, Dortheas, Grey Fox, Tan Caddis, even Hendrickson spinners and pseudos were in attendance! Today looks to be similar, with the chance of a heavy thunderstorm late in the day- the pressure drop and cloud cover should encourage even more activity – looks like a great day on the water!